Guide To Washroom Essentials

Whether your business premises is an office space, restaurant, public facility such as a hospital, school, retailer or factory – the reputation of your workplace doesn’t stop at the washroom door. Toilet facilities reflect how well an organisation is run and, as such, should be kept clean and well-stocked. What’s more, businesses are legally required to provide suitable toilets and washing facilities to all workers – which includes ensuring that toilets are clean, sanitary and well-stocked with toilet paper, soap or other washing agents and have a facility for drying hands.

Ensuring that washrooms are kept up to scratch is not an easy job. It requires attention throughout the day by staff who are assigned and trained to ensure facilities are appropriately cleaned using the correct equipment, products and signage – such as wet floor signs and cleaning record displays. There should also be unrestricted access to soap, cloths, mops and other cleaning products. Whilst it may require commitment and diligence, maintaining thorough washroom cleaning practices is an essential aspect of ensuring a legally compliant workplace. In addition, by demonstrating a high level of care for staff, customers and visitors through providing washroom essentials and clean sanitary equipment can instill a sense of value for staff wellbeing and generate loyalty – which are certainly a worthwhile return on your investment.

In this blog, we’ll cover all the washroom essentials you need to be aware of – from what is required in terms of cleaning, to how often washrooms should be cleaned, and must-have washroom cleaning supplies.

Laws and regulations for maintaining washrooms

It is important to know that maintaining clean, sanitary washrooms is not just a matter of business sense but a legal obligation. According to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations of 1992, workplaces must provide ‘suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences, at readily accessible places’. In addition, these conveniences should be adequately ventilated and lit, and kept in a clean and orderly condition.

This means that toilet washroom facilities must be hygienic and must cater for users’ needs by providing sufficient personal cleaning products, toilet paper, hot and cold running water and hand drying amenities. They must also be sufficiently stocked with products and equipment that can ensure cleanliness of facilities is maintained consistently.

Tips for keeping washroom cleaning under control

Whilst maintaining workplace washroom hygiene is essential for any employer, it nonetheless can be a laborious task that requires adequate resourcing, training, equipment, products and administration to carry out correctly. Labour and costs can easily spiral, and maintenance routines can flounder without proper management and policies in place.

So what are the key actions, washroom cleaning supplies and equipment required to ensure that workplace washrooms remail compliant, and staff feel satisfied with the facilities provided? Here are just a few of the top tips and essential supplies that will help you keep washroom cleaning under control and make the right impression on your staff and visitors.

What does washroom cleaning involve?

Cleaning washrooms means ensuring that everything from the ground up not only appears clean, but is also disinfected and that, as much as is possible, bad odours are kept at bay. Cleaning standards should be such that safety hazards including viruses and bacteria are minimised, as well as slips from water spillages.

Keeping a washroom cleaning checklist is a useful way of communicating to staff what needs to be done, when and with what products. Areas that should features as needing regular cleaning include: floors, toilets, basins, taps, door handles, chairs, dryers, baby changing facilities and product dispensers.

A plentiful stock of products is also essential to keeping washrooms consistently clean. Cloths and wipes, mops and buckets, and other janitorial supplies will help keep your washroom looking good and staying safe, whilst PPE such as gloves and overshoes will help protect your staff from germs and harmful chemicals.

How often should washrooms be checked and cleaned – regular and deep cleaning

The number of staff that use your washroom facilities will determine how often they should be cleaned. For high traffic areas, toilets should be checked at least hourly to ensure they are clean and well stocked. Cleaning of toilets, changing tables, basins and handles should also be performed regularly – up to 10 times per day for very high traffic areas – to ensure that facilities are kept hygienic.

Thorough deep cleaning of toilets, floors and wash basins should be performed daily in areas of high traffic with disinfectant products. And a more extensive deep clean of walls, windows, blinds, etc should be factored in at least monthly.

Dedicated staff

Having staff whose responsibility is to check and clean toilets when required is vital to ensure that all of your washrooms are kept in top condition. Following a washroom cleaning checklist and making sure staff keep a record of checks and cleaning activities will help keep things on track.

In order to ensure that cleaning is done to a high standard, staff should be properly trained to carry out tasks efficiently and effectively and are able to identify and use the correct product for each task – including what personal protective equipment (PPE) should be utilised.

Keeping storerooms well stocked with washroom essentials, accessible and well organised will enable your staff to get on with the job at hand, with minimal fuss and to the standard needed to provide a hygienic facility.

Stocking up with sanitary products

As well as cleaning supplies, sanitary products are an essential item to be provided in any washroom facility. Ensuring you have a good supply of sanitary products in your washroom and stockroom, or can acquire them swiftly from a trusted consumables supplier like phs Direct, will make your job in the washroom a lot easier, allowing you to dedicate time elsewhere in the building.

As site manager, you’ll know your organisation has a legal duty of care to provide a sanitary disposal service – . Other sanitary products are also welcomed by washroom visitors for convenience and discretion, and can help make the job of cleaning easier. Environmental options also allow your business to boost its green credentials.

Steady supply of paper products

The absence of toilet rolls and paper towels is a big turn-off for washroom users. Keep stocked up so that you, your staff and visitors aren’t caught short. Ensuring that toilet roll and paper towel dispensers are kept clean and functional is also part of keeping your toilet facilities up to scratch. You can even choose dispensers with special finishes to complement washroom décor.

Air quality – providing ventilation and air fresheners that work

Keeping your washroom clean and well stocked with toilet rolls and sanitary products is just half the job. Bad odours can ruin washroom visits and leave a lasting impression on users. It is also a legal requirement that adequate ventilation is provided in washroom as much as possible.

Extraction fans and appropriately secured windows are a must for ensuring satisfactory air ventilation for staff and visitors’ comfort. In addition, air fresheners can contribute to a positive washroom experience and increase overall satisfaction with your facilities.

Make sure that when you are buying your mops, cloths and wipes that you don’t forget air fresheners. Adding essential oils and propellant-free dispensers that can co-ordinate with other sanitary equipment to your cleaning supplies checklist will make every trip to your commercial washrooms more enjoyable.

Take note – the importance of cleaning changing tables properly

Whilst all washroom furniture should be given thorough attention when cleaning, and with appropriate, non-hazardous products; it should be noted on your washroom cleaning checklist that special consideration must be given to baby changing tables. Now supplied in the majority toilet amenities, infant-changing facilities should be regularly and rigorously cleaned and disinfected. Changing tables often contain unseen faecal bacteria, urine, dribble and more, which can quickly become breeding grounds for a range of harmful bacteria that can cause illness, particularly to infants. It is essential, therefore, to minimise exposure to such substances using gentle, non-toxic products.

Since it is essential to clean changing tables after each use, a supply of products should be made available to customers to maintain a high level of cleanliness between inspections and deep cleaning.

Don’t forget men’s washrooms

Men’s toilet facilities are a particular challenge. Blocked urinals caused by uric acid and limescale build up make a real mess and can be expensive to fix.
Urinal products, such as phs Eco Shield, urinal screens and urinal cubes can help break down these washroom enemies, therefore removing the root of the problem. While some of these products also contain fragrances, the addition of air fresheners or odour neutraliser units is always welcome.

Commercial washrooms equipment

As well as washroom cleaning supplies, both men’s and women’s toilets benefit from the addition of other sanitary equipment.

Handcare dispensers for soap, sanitiser and moisturiser, as well as hand dryers, hair dryers, paper towel dispensers and vending machines, not only help keep your business compliant with regulations, but add convenience for washroom visitors and provide the means for them to maintain hygiene levels that will benefit the business and wider community. All these, the relevant consumables and other sanitary equipment designed to make a washroom visit altogether more enjoyable can all be ordered online at phs direct.

Partner with phs Direct for all your washroom needs

Order your washroom essentials quickly and easily online with the confidence of swift and safe delivery from phs Direct and you’ll soon be getting compliments on your toilet facilities, as well as keeping your washrooms well-maintained and fulfilling your duty of care to staff and visitors.

Or get in touch for a free consumables audit to make sure that you are getting the best out of your washroom cleaning supplies budget.